Scot contaminated Nurofen Plus to feed his addiction to codeine, court told

A SCOT contaminated packs of Nurofen Plus with anti-psychotic pills to feed his addiction to the codeine which is contained in the painkiller, a court heard yesterday.

Christopher McGuire, from Glasgow, is charged with four counts of contamination of goods and two counts of administering a poison.

McGuire, 30, allegedly contaminated packets of Nurofen Plus at branches of Boots the Chemist at London’s Victoria Station, in Beckenham High Street, Beckenham, at the Glades in Bromley and at the Beckenham Independent Pharmacy in Beckenham between 1 June and 26 August. The boxes were found to contain the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel.

McGuire is also accused of administering a noxious substance to two witnesses – Peter Latham and Paul Connor – on 22 July.

Southwark Crown Court heard that McGuire had taken Nurofen Plus from the packs and swapped it with Seroquel, which had been prescribed to him for his schizophrenia.

During a brief court appearance yesterday, McGuire denied all the charges.

Melanie Krudy, defending McGuire, said: “There are a number of reports outstanding.

“The issues are that he states what he says in his six interviews – he swaps the Seroquel for the Nurofen Plus to feed his drug habit.

“There was no intention to cause anyone injury. There is a lot more to it.

“He has been prescribed medication for a number of years to do with his condition.

“At the time of the alleged offence he was not taking what he should have been.

“Since he has been in custody he has made progress.

“He was in a very poor state.

“As soon as he was aware of the effects of what he had done, he stopped doing it.”

Ms Krudy said McGuire had said in an interview that he had suddenly realised what he was doing.

She said: “This is not a man who is out of control.

“He is deeply ashamed. He was saying to police, ‘I should have called Scotland Yard, I should have called them myself.’

“A lot of what the prosecution has is due to his own admission.

“He has told them where and when he carried out the swaps.”

Alexandra Felix, prosecuting, told the court that the defence had instructed a neuropsychologist and that there was a “mass” of CCTV to be looked through.

Judge Alistair McCreath said McGuire’s actions had put the public at “significant risk” and remanded him in custody until a further case management hearing on 2 February.

Reckitt Benckiser, the makers of Nurofen Plus, recommend its use for treating headaches, migraines, back pain, cramping period pain, muscular and rheumatic pain, neuralgia and dental pain.

Nurofen Plus contains a combination of ibuprofen and codeine, which its makers say “starts working right at the site of your pain to reduce the formation of pain messengers”.

The company said that ibuprofen also had anti-inflammatory properties that helped to reduce swelling.